The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters became the first PL team to clinch a playoff berth with its 3-1 win over the Chiba Lotte Marines on Thursday, taking a two-run, first-inning lead on Yoshio Itoi's eighth homer of the year and getting five solid innings out of Kazuhito Tadano (6-5).
After the visitors got a run back in the fifth, Atsunori Inaba homered off Marines ace Yoshihisa Naruse (12-11) to lead off the sixth. Fighters closer Hisashi Takeda pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to reach 30 saves for the second straight season.
Lions 3, Eagles 1